Most home entertainment systems include a television and one or more AV devices coupled to the television such as a DVD, a cable box, a VCR, and the like. In order to simplify control of the AV devices coupled to the television and eliminate line of sight issues related to the control of AV devices using a remote control unit that emits command codes embedded in an IR signal or light beam, many systems utilize IR blasters coupled to the television over an IR blaster cable. The blaster cable is used to simplify the control of a home theater by the use of a single remote control. By a simple IR repeating operation or a more complex code translation process in the TV or IR blaster assembly, a single remote control can be used for operating the entire AV system. The alternatives to such an implementation are for the user to utilize a different remote control for each AV device or to switch a multi-brand remote control among the various devices. However, in spite of the improvement offered by this system, there are situations when the user will prefer to use a remote control dedicated to his specific equipment. For example, if the TV is in an off state and the user prefers to listen to a CD player, direct control of the CD player would be preferred so that the TV would not have to be turned on just for control purposes. In this case the IR remote control for the CD player should remain functional.
As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 1A, the television 10 will have, among other components, an IR signal detector 11 to detect the IR signal 32 emitted from the TV remote control unit 30 and a repeater 13 to transmit the IR signal 32 over the IR blaster cable 12 to the IR blaster 14. The IR blaster 14, which is preferably positioned in front of an IR detector 22 of the AV device 20, blasts or emits the repeated IR signal 16 or an IR signal that has its coding translated from one format to another within the TV or in the blaster assembly itself. The repeated IR signal 16 emitted from the IR blaster 14 is detected by an IR detector 22 of the AV device 20. However, in conventional systems, the IR detector 22 will also detect the IR signal 32 emitted by the TV remote control unit 30. As a result, the IR signal 32 emitted by the TV remote control unit 30 interferes with the repeated or translated IR signal emitted 16 by the IR blaster 14 causing errors or faulty operation of the AV device 20.
Thus, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that would eliminate such interference.